Adjustable colloid mill



Oct. 7,' 1947. E. G.."EPPENBACH EIAL 2,428,415

ADJUSTABLE COLLOID MILL Original Filed April 7, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTORS [hm/v 61 fmwancfi.

ATTORNEY Oct. 7, 1947 E. G. EPPENBACH EI'AL I 2,428,415;

ADJUSTABLE COLLOID MILL I I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 qriginal Filed April '7,1942 Patented Oct. 7, 1 947 ADJUSTABLE COLLOID MILL Edwin G. Eppenbach,Manhasset, and Henry Imshaug, Flushing, N. Y.; said Imshaug assignor tosaid Eppenbach Original application April 7, 1942, Serial No. 437,979.Divided and this application March 1, 1944, Serial No. 524,824

10 Claims. (Cl. 241259) This invention relates generally to grinding,milling and homogenizing devices, particularly of the vertical type,although it may be operated horizontally or in any other desiredposition.

The present application is a division of our copending applicationSerial No. 437,979, filed April 7, 1942, matured into Patent No.2,403,914, issued July 16, 1946, and has for its prime object to providespecially designed combination pre-cutting, mincing or grinding andmilling elements, which are preferably adjustable relative to oneanother, and wherein these elements are interchangeable and are adaptedto facilitate the handling of any type of material or a combination ofmaterials to bring them to the desired fineness, uniformity, colloidalstate or consistency.

Another object of the present invention is to provide in a colloidalgrinding or milling device, mill units equipped with specially designedprecutting, cutting or mincing, and grinding means, adapted to graduallydiminish the material to be treated, and which mill units are furtherprovided with cooperating milling surfaces for producing a fine millingoperation before the pre-cut, cut, minced or ground material isultimately discharged from the units.

These and other objects and important improvements of the presentinvention will become more readily evident from the followingdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 illustrates an elevation of the device in its presently preferredform, shown partially in section;

Fig. 2 illustrates an enlarged partial detail view of the grinding ormilling mechanism;

Fig; 3 is a similar illustration of a modified form of the grinding ormilling arrangement, on a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of a portion of the stato in one of its formsused with the grinder shown in Fig.2:

Fig. 5 is a top view of a rotor such as employed in the constructionshown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 6 illustrates a top view of a rotor such as employed in theconstruction shown in Fig. 3.

Referrin now specifically to the drawings, numeral Ill denotes the baseof the device, which is preferably placed upon the floor, but which maybe swung to any desired position and secured in that position by boltsor other means not shown in the drawings. Within base l0 there issuspended a motive source I I, such as an electric motor, with avertical shaft l2 extending upwards. The motor is suspended from theenclosedbot- I tom structure I3 of a frame l4, which latter rests ofspacer bolts 33.

upon base In. The center of frame bottom [3 is apertured at l5, whichaperture is covered by a drip guard l6. Structure 13 and drip guard I6effectively prevent liquid or moisture from entering the base anddamaging the motor.

Secured to and supported by frame I4 is a combination journaling andadjusting member [1, consisting of a hub structure I8, with which isassociated a threaded adjustable cup l9, accommodating a shaft bearing20. Cup l9 may be set in its adjusted position in respect to hub l8 byset screws 21. Within hub 18 is lodged and guided a sleeve 22, which isthreaded externally at 23 and is engaged by an internally threaded andcalibrated index ring 24, by means of which ring sleeve 22 may beadjusted in upward or downward directions. Sleeve 22 may be held in itsadjusted position by means of set screw 25 engaging ring 24. I

Within sleeve 22 and journaled in bearings 20 is rotor shaft 26. Thelatteris joined with shaft 12 of motor II by means of coupling 21,located within frame l4. Secured to shaft 26 is rotor 28, forming a partof the grinder or mill unit of the device. Rotor 28 is exchangeable. Thestator of the mill is indicated at 29 and also comprises an exchangeablemember or insert, which is supported by the'b-roadened upper or flangedend 30 of sleeve 22, and which broadened end forms the bottom of themill casing, which houses the grinder unit. It will be seen that thecasing is provided with a Water jacket 3|, whereby the casing, andtherefore the grinder unit, may be readily cooled or held at any desiredtemperature required for the matter to be treated within the device.

Above jacket 3| is a jacketed top member 32, held together with flange30 of sleeve 22 by means Supported by upper jacket structure 32 is ahopper 34, provided with a cover 35, which may be completely closed ifso desired. By means of the jacket in member 32 the contents of thehopper may be kept at any desired temperature. The top of the hopper isprovided with an inlet 36 into which is removably placed the end of thegoose neck 31 forming the upper portion of conduit 38, joined at itslower end with outlet pipe 39. The latter is connected at with thegrinder unit, and its discharge is controlled by valve 4|. This valvemay be so placed that it either provides a direct discharge from thegrinder unit through its hollow structure 42, or that it closes outletpipe 39 to provide circulation of the matter being milled through pipe 338 to the top of hopper 34 and back into the grinder.

Referring now to Figs. 2 to 6, inclusive, and

especially to Figs. 2-, 4 and 5, vertical rotor shaft 26 is providedwith an off-set 43, against which rests rotor 28, which latter issecured to shaft 25 by means of threaded shaft extension '44..

The rotor, as shown in plan View in Fig. 5, is

provided with turbine blades or vanes 45, which' serve for drawing inthe material to be handled and to catapult it against stator 29 and intothe spaces between stator and rotor. These turbine vanes extend upwardsfrom the-horizontal top portion of the rotor and are positioned at atangent in respect to a theoretical inner circle. The.

outer edges 45' of the turbine vanes are also dis: posed in a circle,which however is larger in diameter, and form cutters which cooperatewith corresponding instrumentalities of the stator29, 3

i in the bottom View shown in Fig. 4;. The upper portion 45 issubstantially cylindrical in shape and is provided with a plurality ofinternal flutes or recesses 52 equipped with cutting edges 5!, which terQQ e eW -th cutting. d s 4 h tt lad 45 f e rotor. t wi e obs r ed ha thenumber of flutes 50 far exceeds the number of vanes 45.. Recesses 50 arevertical are substantially cylindrical in shape, although portions oftheir cylindrical shapes are cut off. to provide the aforesaidcuttingedges 51... The bottom edges of recesses 51} andt'he surfacesbetween them are cone-shaped. .These conical portions 3 disposed betweeneach two recesses are. indicated at '52 and constitute cutting or'minci'ng areas, which cooperate with the minci-ng fields d5 of therotor. The lower com cal. portion 53 of the to milling surface 48 of therotor, represents the stator, commencing at the lower ends of recesses55) and'continuing downwards .in parallel relation j stator millingsurface, which cooperates with milling surface 48 of the rotor.

Just below the lower termini-of recesses '50 there are provided, withinconical milling surface 53, retaining cups or smaller recesses 54, whichcooperate with the lower tips of wedge-shap d recesses 4'! of the rotor.Between these two instru.-.

mentalities the material is temporarily retained until it .is finelyground or minced before being passed on between the unbroken millingsurfaces 8 and 3.

From the foregoing detail description of the work surface arrangement of"the rotor and of the stator, it becomes clearlyevident that anymaterial draw-n in by the turbine blades 45 is. first precut betweenedges 45of the turbine blades and the cutting edges 5-! of recesses 55,whereupon a secondary or r c-cutting step of the material to a finerstate takes place between the lower ends of recesses 5t and the upperends of V-shaped recesses -41 of the rotor. This operation is followedby a grinding or .nn'ncing operation between cups 54 and the lower endsof recesses 41, whereupon the minced material .is subjected to a millingop.-

rial or a mixture of materials progressing from the top of the mill unitto the bottom thereof becomes gradually diminished in size. Due to thesuccessive steps of diminishing the size of material by pre-cutting,recutting, mincing or grindingand milling, each of the progressive operations require but a minimum of power andas a result the overall powerexpenditure necessary for successfully operating the device will befound appreciably less, as compared with the power re quired in otherdevices of a similar nature. 'Furthermore, consequence of the positiveactions taking place at each stage of operation of the working unit, theuniformity of'the resulting product issuing from between the two millingsurfaces may be always'depended on throughout exsion 44 serving forattaching such modified rotor, The rotor in; this case .is composed of abottom or supporting-member. 55 and a top or locking member 56, betweenwhich two members is inserted an abrasive element 51. This element,while shown:With-a smooth, conical, outer surface 58, may also beprovided with recesses such as shown at 4'! in Fig. 5. Top membertfi ofthe rotor is equipped with turbine blades 59, similar to blades 45. ofFig. 2, terminating in a tangential cuttingedge 59,. V 7

The stator in thismodified form isindicated at: It. comprises an.inverte'd'dish-formedcasingmrovided at its dished end with inclinedflutes or recesses l5 I. Below the fluted end they casin accommodates anabrasive insert .62" provided with: vertical flutes, retaining cups. orsmaller recesses 63, which form continuations. of inclined flutes fil ofthe upperstator portion. The lower surface .84 .of abrasive element 62,below flute 16.3,. is relatively smooth and cooperates with the lowersmooth portion of conica-lsnrface 5.8 :ofthe rotor. j

The. modifiedlform' shownin'Figs. 3 and 6 operates on. the sameprinciple of successively diminishing the material to .be treated. It'thus provides for what is termed as lire-cutting of the V fineness ofthe abrasive material may be' chosen for specific requirements to.produce different grades of the finished product. .The exchange abilityof these abrasive inserts also facilitatestheir ready replacement, :andotherwise provides numerous advantagesovermill elements made of onepiece of material. 1 I

While only two specific forms of our mill u-nits ar illustrated, it isobvious that changes, modi fications and improvements may be madetherein, and we thereforereserve for ourselves the right toalternandimprove' our mill structure, witho t departing frorn'the broadscope of our invention, as expressed in the annexed claims. We-claim:1 1. In a colloidal mill device, a grinding or mili unit comprising arotor and an adjustable stator, 5

both having continuous work surfaces composed of pre-cutting,.mincingand milling areas, the pre-cutting area of the stator being providedwith spaced recesses or flutes arranged adjacent to 'and extendingbeyond its milling area, the precutting area of the rotor also extendingbeyond its milling area and including a plurality of vanes projectingfrom the top of the rotor'body and being tangentially disposed inrespect to a theoretical inner circle, said vanes being adapted tocooperate with said flutes of the stator.

2. In a colloidal mill device, a grinding or mill unit comprising rotorand stator having cooperating work surfaces composed of pie-cutting,mincing or grinding, and milling portions forming immediately adjacentcontinuations of one another, the pre-cutting portion of the statorincluding a plurality of flutes, the pre-cutting portion of the rotorcomprising a plurality of vanes, said flutes and vanes havingcooperating cutting edges; said mincing portion comprising relativelysmall recesses in the rotor and material-retaining recesses in stator;said milling portion comprising relatively smooth, continuouscooperating faces of both the rotor and stator.

3. In a colloidal mill device, a grinding or mill unit comprising rotorand stator having cooperating work surfaces composed of pre-cutting,mincing or grinding, and milling portions forming immediately adjacentcontinuations of one another, the pro-cutting portion of the statorincluding a plurality of flutes, the pre-cutting portion of the rotorcomprising a plurality of vanes, said flutes and vanes havingcooperating cutting edges; said mincing portion comprising relativelysmall recesses in the rotor and materialretaining recesses in stator;said milling portion comprising relatively smooth, continuouscooperating faces of both the rotor and stator, the mincing and millingportions being provided in removable or exchangeable inlays made ofabrasive material.

4. In a colloidal mill device, a grinding or mill unit comprising rotorand adjustable stator mem bers, both having cooperating work surfacescomposed of pre-cutting, mincing and milling portions formingimmediately adjacent continua tions of one another, the pre-cuttingportion of the stator member being provided with a plurality of spacedrecesses or flutes, the pre-cutting portion of the rotor memberincluding a plurality of vertical vanes extending from the rotor memberand arranged tangentially to a theoretical inner circle, said flutes andsaid vanes having sharp exterior cutting edges adapted to coact with oneanother for cutting matter before it reaches the milling portion of thetwo members, the milling portion of both members comprising exchangeableabrasive elements.

5. In a colloidal mill device, a grinding or mill unit comprising rotorand adjustable stator members, both having cooperating work surfacescomposed of pre-cutting, mincing and milling portions formingimmediately adjacent continuations of one another, the pro-cuttingportion of the stator member being provided with a plurality of spacedrecesses or flutes, the pre-cutting portion of the rotor memberincluding a plurality of vertical vanes extending from the rotor memberand arranged tangentially to a theoretical inner circle, said flutes andsaid vanes havin sharp exterior cutting edges adapted to coact with oneanother for cutting matter before it reaches the milling portion of thetwo members, the milling portion of both members comprising exchangeableabrasive elements, the number of the recesses or flutes of the statormember far exceeding the number of vanes of the rotor member.

6. In a colloidal mill device, a grinding or mill unit comprising rotorand adjustable stator members, both having cooperating worksurfaces'composed of pre-cutting, mincing and milling portions formingimmediately adjacent continuations of one another, the pro-cuttingportion of the stator member being provided with a pl-urality of spacedrecesses or flutes, the pre-cutting portion of the rotor memberincluding a plurality of vertical vanes extending from the rotor memberand arranged tangentially to a theoretical inner circle, said flutes andsaid vanes having sharp exterior cutting edges adapted to coact with oneanother for cutting matter before it reaches the milling portion of thetwo members, the milling portion of both members comprising exchangeableabrasive elements, the number of the recesses or flutes of the statormember far exceeding the number of vanes of the rotor memher, saidflutes being substantially cylindrical in cross section. I

7. In a colloidal mill device, a grinding or mill unit comprising rotorand adjustable stator members, both having continuous work surfacescomposed of pre-cutting, mincing and milling portions, the pre-cuttingportions of both members being provided with cooperative pro-cuttingmeans, including depressions in the stator and vanes extending from therotor, adapted to precut matter and facilitate its feeding towards themincing portions of the members, a mincing stage provided with bothmembers and comprising diminutive material cutting means, the precuttingand diminutive cutting means of both members being immediately adjacentto each other and forming a direct continuation of their respectivemilling surfaces, said mincing portion of the members comprisingsubstantially cupshaped recesses in the stator and substantiallywedge-shaped recesses in the rotor, the area of the rotor below saidrecesses forming a continuation of the milling stage of the rotormember.

8. In a colloidal mill device, a grinding or mill unit comprising rotorand adjustable stator members, both having continuous work surfacescomposed of pre-cutting, mincing and milling portions, the pre-cuttingportions of both members being provided with cooperative pre-cuttingmeans, including depressions in the stator and vanes extending from therotor, adapted to precut matter and facilitate its feeding towards themincing portions of the members, a mincing stage provided with bothmembers and comprising diminutive material cutting means, thepre-cutting and diminutive cutting means of both members beingimmediately adjacent to each other and forming a direct continuation oftheir respective milling surfaces, the pre-cutting portion of the worksurface of the stator member being provided with recesses or flutes, themincing portion of the stator member comprising retaining cupsorrecesses, adjacent to these flutes, the latter having sharp cuttingedges.

9. In a colloidal mill device, a grinding or mill unit comprising rotorand adjustable stator members, both having continuous work surfacescomposed of pre-cutting, mincing and milling portions, the pre-cuttingportions of both members being provided with cooperative pro-cuttingmeans, including depressions in the stator and vanes extending from therotor, adapted to precut matterancl facilitate its feeding'towards'themincing portions of the members, a .mincing stage ,provided with bothmembers and comprising diminutive material cutting means, thepre-cutting and diminutive cutting means of both members .beingimmediately adjacent to each other andiorminga direct continuation oftheir respective milling surfaces, the pro-cutting portion of the worksurface of the rotor member including a plurality of spaced, verticalvanes extending beyond the solid body of that member, the precuttingportion of the Work surface of thestator memberb-eing provided with aplurality of flutes, said .rotor vanes .and said stator ,flutes havingcooperating sharp cutting edges.

.10. Inacolloidal mill device, agrindingor mill unit-comprising rotorand adjustable stator members, both having continuous 'work surfacescomposed :of pre-.cutting, mincing and milling portions, the pre-cuttingportions of both members being provided with cooperative ,pre-cuttingmeans, including depressions in the stator and vanes extending from therotor, adapted to precut'matter and facilitate its feeding towards themincing portions of the members, a mincing stage provided with bothmembers and comprising diminutive material cutting means, thepre-cutting and diminutive cutting means of both members beingimmediately adjacent to each other 8 and'formingadirectcontinuationqofthen-respective milling surfaces, the :pre-cutting portion of the worksurface of the rotor member including a plurality of spaced, verticalvanes extending beyond the'solid body ofthat member, the pre-.' cuttingportion of the work surface of the :stator member being provided with a,plurality of flutes, said rotor vanes and said stator flutes havingcooperating sharp cutting edges, the number-of flutes in the statormember being considerably in excess of the number of vanes extendingfrom the rotor member, said vanes being positioned tangentially to atheoretical inner circle.

EDWIN G. vEPPEINBAG J.

HENRY IM-SHAUG,

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record :ain the file ofthis patent:

V U'Nl'iTED STATES PATENTS

